CLASSROOM LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, ATTITUDES AND

ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN PHYSICS

A Title Proposal

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Subject
RS 299b: Research Methodology

Presented to:
Dr. Evangeline Solita Bañez
Professor

Presented by:
Edward Henry Caoile
MST Physics Student

October, 2013
 CLASSROOM LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, ATTITUDES AND
ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN PHYSICS

INTRODUCTION

Science education which is included in the program of all schools is aimed to contribute

to the growth and development of students and to the welfare of society. It is concerned

primarily with developing intelligence with reference to the role of science in personal and social

life on the part of all students.

Among the sciences, Physics is one that should not be looked down to. Physics, much

like other branches of science, is just a way of thinking and understanding the physical

surroundings. It seeks answer to how’s and why’s of nature, thus, freeing the students from

ignorance and superstitions. The laboratory work in Physics provides practice and training in the

manipulation at simple tool and devices which measured or serves as the bases of the more

complicated instruments and applications of modern life.

In learning Physics, a student learns to analyze the real world, predict the future events

and to think logically and analytically. It is therefore the responsibility of the teacher to provide

opportunities for the students to develop to the fullest the skills of his students. It is also for the

school administrators to provide the necessary apparatuses.

The Philippine education system, particularly along science and mathematics education,

has been facing a number of challenges these past decades. According to the National

Educational Testing and Research Center (NETRC), achievement levels in elementary and

secondary education still fall below standards. The problem of poor quality has been traced to a

number of causes which include socio-economic factors, teacher-related factors, inadequate

learning materials, and the short and congested school curriculum among others

(www.seameo.org). The researcher also attributes this poor performance on the low interest
along science among students. Students perceive science, particularly Physics, as a difficult

subject, hence, they just take the subject for granted.

Rivera and Ganaden (2001), as cited by Meresen (2010) claimed that the teacher may

develop and change the dimensions of the classroom environment to improve students’ attitudes

by making it more interesting. Physics covers a large part in our society because every single

thing we do, Physics is there. Students with positive attitudes are more likely to extend their

learning in Physics even after the supervision of the teacher has ended because they can see the

connection of that subject to their surroundings and daily living. The study further reiterated that

improving students’ attitudes toward science like Physics is a legitimate educational goal that has

been recognized by educators for years. A positive attitude could result in the support of science

and increase resources for scientific study of society’s problems. It is therefore desirable to

promote positive attitudes towards science as an important objective of education.

Learning environment variables are the most influential predictors of attitude toward

science. Because student variables cannot be changed, science educators should concentrate on

examining the teacher and the learning environment variables, which are under the control of the

teacher. This may help educators understand how these variables may be treated in order to

promote positive attitude of students toward science, thus resulting to better science performance

of students.

The researcher, being aware of the different classroom scenarios, hoped that this will

bring out insights on the existing problems and needs of science education.

The result of the study may encourage the teachers to optimize their instructional

strategies and methodologies in teaching Physics and other science subjects in order to provide a
positive teaching-learning environment and create a more positive attitude of students toward

science subjects.

This study may also provide the school administration some solutions to the problems on

classroom environment, low performance level of students, and their negative attitudes towards

science subject.

Lastly, this study may serve as a basis for further research, not only in the field of science

education but also in other subjects as they are interconnected with each other.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study aims to determine the classroom learning environment and the attitudes and

achievement of the fourth year students in Physics at the St. William’s Institute, Magsingal,

Ilocos Sur.

Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What is the profile of respondents in terms of:

a. age,

b. sex,

c. place of residence,

d. parents’ educational attainment, and

e. parents’ occupation?

2. What classroom learning environment exists in St. William’s Institute for Physics in

terms of:

a. Student’s Interest,

b. Teacher’s Support,
 c. Fairness and Clarity of Rule and Task in the Classroom,

d. Teacher’s Encouragement,

e. Student’s Participation,

f. Classroom Ventilation, and

g. Classroom Space?

3. What are the attitudes of the respondents towards Physics subject on the aspect of:

a. Course Content,

b. Teaching Methods, and

c. Teaching Materials?

4. What is the level of Physics achievement of the respondents along the following

content areas:

a. Mechanics,

b. Thermodynamics,

c. Electromagnetism,

d. Wave and Motion, and

e. Modern Physics?

5. Is there a significant relationship between the Physics achievement of the

respondents and the following?

a. Profile of the Respondents,

b. Classroom Learning Environment, and

c. Attitudes Towards Chemistry?

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This study will be guided by the conceptual framework below.

Independent Variables Dependent Variables

Profile of the Respondents

a. Sex
b. Age
c. Place of Residence
d. Parents’ Educational
Attainment
e. Parents’ Occupation

Classroom Learning
Environment
a. Student’s Interest
Physics Achievement along
b. Teacher’s Support
the Content Areas of:
c. Fairness and Clarity of
a. Mechanics
Rule and Task in the
b. Thermodynamics
Classroom
c. Electromagnetism
d. Teacher’s
d. Wave and Motion
Encouragement
e. Modern Physics
e. Student’s Participation
f. Classroom Ventilation
g. Classroom Space

Attitudes Towards Physics

a. Course Content
b. Teaching Methods
c. Teaching Materials

The paradigm shows that the Physics achievement of the respondents maybe affected by their

profile, classroom learning environment that exist in the classroom and their attitudes towards Physics.
HYPOTHESIS

There is no significant relationship between the Physics Achievement of the respondents

and the following:

a. Profile of the Respondents,

b. Classroom Learning Environment, and

c. Attitude Towards Chemistry.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design. This study will be using descriptive-correlational method of research to

describe the profile, classroom learning environment, attitude towards Physics and the Physics

achievement of the fourth year high school students of St. William’s institute during the school

year 2013-2014. The profile, classroom learning environment and attitudes towards Physics will

be correlated with Physics achievement of the respondents.

Population. The data that will be needed in this study will be gathered from the 96 fourth

year high school students of the St. William’s Institute. The two sections are considered in the

study – St. Francis of Assisi and St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Distribution of Respondents in the Study

Section Male Female Total

IV - SFA 20 28 48

IV - SIL 23 25 48

Total 43 53 96
 Data Gathering Instrument. The researcher will use three adopted instruments in

gathering the data for this study: the Learning Environment Scale, Physics Attitudinaire and

Physics Achievement Test.

The Learning Environment Scale (LES) will be used to assess the Physics classroom

environment. This was adopted by the researcher from the work of Rivera and Ganaden (2001).

Each item responds to a 3-point scale with the alternatives for positive statement as follows:

ALTERNATIVE VALUE

True (T) 3

True Sometimes (TS) 2

Not True (NT) 1

The scoring is reversed for responses to the negative statements.

ALTERNATIVE VALUE

True (T) 1

True Sometimes (TS) 2

Not True (NT) 3

For easier interpretation, the following values will be assigned to the options:

STATISTICAL RANGE DESCRIPTIVE RATING

2.34 – 3.00 High (H)

1,68 – 2.33 Average (A)

1.00 – 1.67 Low (L)

The Physics Attitudinaire will be used to assess the students’ attitudes toward Physics.

The researcher adopted the Physics Attitudinaire from Molina (2001). It consisted of 20 items
composed of three components namely: attitudes towards content, teaching methods and

teaching materials.

Positive statements will be scored from 5 to 1: 5 for strongly agree, 4 for agree, 3 for

undecided, 2 for disagree and 1 for strongly disagree. Negative statements will be scoredin the

reverse: 1 for strongly agree, 2 for agree, 3 for undecided, 4 for disagree and 5 for strongly

disagree.

The following norms will be used for the interpretation of the attitude score of the

respondents.

SCORE DESCRIPTIVE RATING

4.21 – 5.00 --- Strongly Agree (SA)

3.41 – 4.20 --- Agree (A)

2.61 – 3.40 --- Undecided (U)

1.81 – 2.60 --- Disagree (D)

1.00 – 1.80 --- Strongly Disagree (SD)

The following norms will be used for the interpretation of the overall mean of students’

attitudes towards Physics:

OVERALL MEAN DESCRIPTIVE RATING

4.21 – 5.00 --- Very High (VH)

3.41 – 4.20 --- High (H)

2.61 – 3.40 --- Average (A)

1.81 – 2.60 --- Low (L)

1.00 – 1.80 --- Very Low (VL)

 The Physics Achievement Test (PAT) will be used to assess students’ achievement in

Physics. The researcher adopted the Physics achievement test developed by Ragonton (2004). It

consisted of 55 multiple-choice items.

The following norms will be used for the interpretation after transforming the scores to

percentage scores of the students’ achievement.

PERCENTAGE RATING DESCRIPTIVE RATING

80.01 – 100 - Outstanding

60.01 – 80.00 - Very Satisfactory

40.01 – 60.00 - Satisfactory

20.01 – 40.00 - Needs Improvement

0.00 – 20.00 - Failure

Data Gathering Procedure. Prior to the administration of questionnaires, the researcher

will ask permission from the principal of the school covered by this study. When permission will

be granted the researcher will personally administer the questionnaire to the 96 student-

respondents of St. William’s Institute.

Statistical Treatment of Data. This study will utilize several statistical procedures

appropriate to the problems under study.

1. Frequency distribution and percentages. These will be used to describe the profile of

the respondents.

2. Mean. This will be used to describe the learning environment factors, attitudes of the

respondents and Physics achievement of the respondents.

3. Simple Correlation Analysis. This will be used to determine the significant

relationship between the Physics achievement of the respondents and their profile,

perceptions on classroom learning environment and their attitudes towards Physics.